The Beginning
by Bella Ride
Summary: The third and final book in the FLY FREE trilogy. Max and the Flock are back, with soon to be a new member. When tragedy strikes, how will they cope?


**Hey everybody!!! I guess it's been a while... I do apologize for the long break. I needed to think a lot of things through. All of my thinking has been finished, though and the last book in the Fly Free Trilogy has been revived! YAY!!! I know many of you must be terribly angry at me for waiting so long, but I am officially back. It really surprised me that I was still getting reviews, months later. Thank you all so much for reading and egging me on through my long waits and pauses. It means so much more than any of you could ever guess!**

**Another thing that we need to get out of the way: my disclaimer...**

**I own everything except the characters and basic plot. **

**And without further ado, here is the first chapter of The Beginning, the final book in the Fly Free Trilogy!**

**Enjoy!**

**~Bella Ride**

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I tugged at my winter coat, trying to stretch it over the bulge of my stomach. I was eight months pregnant and about as huge as and elephant.

We had been forced to re-locate after the incident in Hawaii. Such a shame. I knew that I should have been used to a more nomadic lifestyle by now, but I couldn't help but be upset. We had such a nice life there while it lasted.

We were forced to leave everything there. How strange would it have been to see a flock of bird-human hybrids soaring through the clouds carrying a convertible? It's bad enough we could fly. But that's something I wouldn't trade for the world.

At the end, Ari's face did surprise me. It was an emotion I hadn't been expecting out of the child. Remorse. However, we still couldn't trust him. Not yet. Probably not ever.

And so, our reluctant departure had lead us to none other than a small town in Connecticut called Union. Now, when I say small, I mean small. There were about 700 people living there just a few years ago.

There, no one knew who we were, what we could do, where we came from. There, we were safe. There was our home. For then, at least.

As pregnancies go, mine was rather relaxing. No morning sickness or strange pains and the baby slept quite well.

I would let my mom do weekly ultrasounds, but I refused to know anything about my baby. As long as he or she was healthy, that's all that mattered.

The rest of the flock was growing up quite nicely. Angel was my little helper, running around and getting me anything I needed. Which was often. I felt bad for her sometimes. It was like she was becoming my little slave.

Gazzy kept his distance. He was too afraid of hurting me or the baby somehow, and spent most of his time in his room. Secretly, I knew that he was helping out too. We would wake up in the morning, and a new chore was done- be it the dishes, or the whole bathroom.

Iggy was always cooking. That was a bonus for me when the cravings came around. From chocolate soufflés to peanut butter sandwiches, I kept Iggy rather busy.

Nudge kept me looking good. She was my hair and makeup station every morning and night. She helped me even more than she knows. Half of the time she was the one that kept me standing. The one who made me feel beautiful, when instead, I should feel like crap.

And now, who I'm sure you all were waiting for, Fang. Our relationship was just as romantic as it always had been and even more. Our baby has brought us closer. At first, I'll admit, I was extremely nervous. You hear all kinds of horror stories about married couples whose lives completely change upside down because husbands can't look at their wives the same way anymore.

Fang remained by my side the entire time. In fact, I can barely remember a time where he had really left me since the big accident about 7 months ago. Of course, I am happy about that. I think I would have gone into complete panic mode if he had left, even for a few hours. But sometimes, I did feel a bit smothered. These strange occurrences passed as quickly as they came, most of the time.

I breathed into my frozen fingers and rubbed them together, in attempt to warm them up as I watched Fang set up the Christmas lights.

"How's that? High enough?" He called down.

"Yeah, but a little bit more to the right." I shouted back up to him.

Fang sighed and climbed back down the ladder, moving it over to the right a bit more. He started climbing back up the ladder and seemed to be experiencing a bit of frustration.

"If you would let me up there, maybe I could help!"

"Dammit Max, I've told you a hundred times that I don't want you to come up here! You could fall and seriously hurt yourself and the baby!"

"I can fly!! It's because I'm a girl isn't it?! You think I'm fat!!!" I wailed.

Fang slid back down the ladder and hurried over to me.

"You know why I don't want you flying. We're trying to keep a low profile here. I don't want anyone to find out who we are. And it's not because you're a girl. I have the most confidence in you. You can do anything Max. I've seen it. And for the umpteenth time, you are not fat!"

To Fang's complete horror, the tears rushed down my cheeks even faster. In a quiet voice I whispered,

"You didn't have to yell at me."

"Max…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

Fang folded me into a tight hug and sighed. His voice wasn't angry or upset, just tired.

"I'm a pain in the ass aren't I?"

Fang remained quiet, in silent contemplation.

"Ugh. I am. I'm sorry. I just get so...frustrated! I don't know what's going on with me. One minute I'm happy, the next I'm practically pulling out my wings! The rest of the flock is afraid of me and my damn mood swings! God!"

I threw myself out of Fang's arms and into the snow. He slowly lowered himself down to my level.

"We'll get through it."

And that was all he had to say.

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**I am really hoping for some reviews, so please feel free to if you get the urge!! It'll make me update faster!!!**

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